when you put the plate w/ the screen back on make extra sure you don't over torque it and snap the case. very easy to do! Also check the drag link bushing, that can give you lots of wander later down the road. I had everything snug on my bus except that, drove great aside from needing to perpetually correct it on the highway, a sublte problem, but made it impossible to fall alseep behind the wheel.

amen on proper load rating tires. I don;t really belive all the saftey hype about them, unless you consider handling saftey. With the right tires on there the ride is 300 times better than with car tires on it. I say this alot, but the right tires make a significantly bigger difference than what shocks are on there.

give a man a watch and he'll allways know what time it is. give him two and he can never be sure again.

Things are rarely just crazy enough to work, but they're frequently just crazy enough to fail hilariously.

So after quite a while pecking away at this (while life pecks away at me) I've performed the following operations for component and system testing:

1. Disconnected Fuel pump and Regulator, plugged tank, got pump running, and put it and the Regulator into a closed loop pumping gasoline round and round for hours to refloat the crud. Seems to have worked. Later tests showed 40psi at the pressure port when the whole rail was repressurized, and the pressure varied as expected when vacuum was applied to the regulator.
2. New Oil, filter.
3. Starter runs fine. New Battery as well as new Positive and Negative cables (upgraded to 2AWG) installed.
4. Points were corroded and fried; barely any power getting through. Replaced points and regapped: happy distributor. (Also tested vacuum canister: works.)
5. Replaced all plugs Bosch Coppers for Autolite 455 19mm reach. Discover a timesert installed in #3 plug bore that backed out glued to the plug. Got a replacement timesert and walked it back into the old timesert threads cut for the original, fixating it with Loctite 266 (which will take up to 600*F.) New Autolites went in.
5. With stumbing starts from a functional cold start injector, seemed to indicate no power to injectors, or varnished shut injectors. Tests indicate pulsed power to injectors but when pressurized, no fuel jets when tested and distributor turning. QED. 4 glued shut injectors.
6. Replaced all 4 injectors and seals.
7. Engine now starts, but almost runs away in RPM, likely vacuum leaks like a sieve.
8. Replaced all 3.5mm and 5mm vacuum hoses. No change to run away tendency. (Though engine dies within 60 seconds of this start.)
9. Compression test yields 100-120 for all cylinders.

At this point, I have only one other test I wish to perform: pull the rocker covers, remove the rockers and straightedge across the valve stems to see if any show a sunken state, indicative of a falling seat. Beyond that, I've done enough diags that I don't see any reason why, with a good cleaning, this engine won't do for the time being.

The only upgrade I intend is a replacement of the exchangers to the early style (and all of the mantling changes involved in that, 8 pieces if memory serves) as well a dropping a Pertronix unit I've had in my kit for eight years into service. Since the engine must come out anyway to also be able to remove the transmission (to get to the rear shift rod, who's bushings have given up the ghost) as well as to R&R the fuel tank, I'm motivated to get moving on the removal so that lots of things can start happening in parallel.

niiiccce. I am working in the reverse direction, bought a bus w/ no engine trans or gas tank, so I get to do all those "I'll do it next year" projects RIGHT NOW, then slap in my engine and trans saved from the last bus.

give a man a watch and he'll allways know what time it is. give him two and he can never be sure again.

Things are rarely just crazy enough to work, but they're frequently just crazy enough to fail hilariously.

The original GD crankcase is shot to hell. #2 bearing saddle has been pounded to slag and has a razor edge on it from the clobbering that you could shave with. The final straw was when I discovered that the drain plug for the sump had been helicoiled. Snap gage measurements of the bores show a case beaten to slag that would require some considerable machine work to put right. At this point, the machine work (if I could find a competent Type 4 machinist near me) would cost me more than I've already sunk into the vehicle in parts.

In lieu of the immense amount of trouble that I've had trying to be a good citizen and tear down only what I must, to leave other items intact to keep costs down and get the vehicle back on the road faster (before the project loses steam) I have been forced along a different route. Rebuild it myself. All of it.

To wit, I have purchased many NOS and OEM parts as well as a VW Factory Rebuilt Type 4 GE case to put them in, which was being held by someone very reputable in the community for a project that did not come to pass. The bores are already 100% and the case has already had the oil galleries drilled and is only waiting for a final cleaning before installing the taps and starting the internals mock-up.

That doesn't mean that I won't be going through all of the blueprinting exercises all over again with this new crankcase. But I'll be starting with many components which have been collected by knowledgeable hobbyists against the day that they needed to build a Type4, with NOS or OEM components.

So I find myself at a crossroads of hilarity: Having attempted to do as little as possible to get the numbers matching GD case running, I find myself nine months later having to replace everything but the alternator and some brackets. I also see that I am out of money, but need to push through a few more purchases to get the bottom end buttoned up before the snow comes. (Yes I plan that far in advance, because that's how screwed up my life is.)

So all of my focus presently is on acquiring the last of the engine internals I require to button up. Much more info coming as I try to push the throttle forward and beat the weather.

If you've been following me here and on thesamba, you'll know that this project got complete wrapped around the axle when the engine was found to be a completely worn out dud.

A hiatus of four months...that can't be good. Actually it has been the worst see-sawing I've ever done on a project.

My policy, when I started this project, was to make a nominal effort to get the Type4 engine running. I dumped $450 in parts and diagnostics into it performing that effort, including new injectors (the old ones were glued shut) and a whole host of other items. All for an engine that I should have just pulled out and kicked to the curb. But you don't know until you try, so I tried.

Having wasted a few months working when I was able to, I discovered that I was the proud owner of a Type4 shaped boat anchor; I should have punted then. The intention was always to go Subaru power if the Type4 wasn't recoverable.

Instead, I let myself be lured by the siren song of "keep it stock." You know the ones: "You'll be sorry." "You'll never finish." "You're a butcher." "The Type4 is the finest engine VW ever made." "You're killing your resale value." "Oh god another hack job..."

Nuts. I got in completely over my head with a Type 4 rebuild, and then discovered that I couldn't even get good parts for the rebuild. So around Halloween, I said to hell with throwing good money after bad and I've been going great guns toward a high and tight Subaru installation by my own hand, using products I've sourced myself. The purists are welcome to polish their Bulli with a diaper. I want to USE mine.

Now that I'm done with my screed (pant, pant, pant) we're going to get on with the job of performing the conversion. All products below are either used or manufactured new in the USA. No VAT. No killer shipping. Most items are COTS (Commercial, Off-The-Shelf.)

Thanks to Skills, JMSkater, Mild-Core, 55Beetle, and several others for sharing and encouragement. I just need my Christmas check to show up and I'll be back working away at it. To date, the engine is sourced, pulled and cleaned up, and the donor vehicle has been stripped of its wiring harness. (An all day affair.) Present work is mostly muscle, including replacing the battery tray and preparing (with documentation) the VW harness to interface with the Subaru harness.

Marshall

Driving Definitions: Understeer is when you hit the tree with the front of the car.Oversteer is when you hit the tree with the rear of the car.Horsepower is how fast you hit the tree.Torque is how far you take the tree with you.